This new work schedule has literally been kicking my butt this week! I had planned to post this chapter up last night but couldn't so, here it is!

New followers: cecilia. , Jack-chan88, Spazzy13 and mtngirlforever!

Reviews:

Kaikitty165: Girl, we all love a little Ana x Daryl banter lol

Frankie: They are two peas in a pad for sure!

Bri47: I'm silently cheering for more of Ana's softer side only because it shows she is human and not only a badass lol

Dark Rose Charm: Pretty sure Daryl will do anything for her, he just hasn't come to complete terms for that just yet haha

KyraNoelle: Let's be honest, have you known Ana not to do something impulsive? lol

UmiNight Angel Neko: We'll all be kicking his ass at this point!

Disclaimer: I do not own the AMC's The Walking Dead or it's characters, just Ana!

Enjoy!

Ana's POV...

I cried.

I lost track of time, of how long I had forced my already tiny frame into a tinier ball and silently sobbed.

The moaning outside never seemed to end as I laid there in the fetal position for what felt like hours.

After the first 10 minutes, nausea began to finally build, a headache brewing at the back of my head, aches I didn't know were there prior, now showing face as I cried even harder, ignoring the wet spot forming on the sleeve of my flannel.

I lost track of how many times I had rolled into the sitting position, attempting to open the door as quietly as possible, only to find it still locked.

Some part of me hoped that Daryl had come back through the horde and had unlocked it for me, but who was I kidding?

I had cried out his name repeatedly, both in my head and through a whisper, teasing the hope in my heart that he was possibly still alive out there.

But after lying there for 20 minutes with what seemed like no end to the horde outside, I could feel that small sliver of hope inside my chest, slowly burning away.

There had to be hundreds of them out there. How could anyone survive that?

Another 20 minutes had passed after the clear sound of gunfire sent me into another round of sobbing before I heard even louder banging on the side of the truck. I rolled myself into an even tighter ball, if at all possible, pressing both my hand and injured elbows against my ears to hide the sound.

This was all my fault.

I had lost one of the only people I held close in this place and it was all my fault.

I didn't want anything to do with this place anymore. I wanted to die. I wanted to go home and act like none of this was real.

Who was I fucking kidding?

Author's POV...

Hours seemed to have passed as Ana passed out midway through her anxiety attack before the moaning from outside seemed to have simmered down. Now sprawled out just between the door and pallets, her face swollen, body limp, her form twitched as the loud sound of the door lock slipping out of place echoed loudly through the tin can.

Ana sniffled, letting out a small whimper as her consciousness decided to remind her of what had happened, sending her into another round of sobbing as the truck filled with a dim light.

"Daryl..." She softly cried out, not even noticing the low light now filtering into the tin can or the man who stood just beyond the doors, looking at her heartbroken.

He had known, the second he shut the door in her face, that she would blame herself if something had happened to him. He knew. She was just like him in that aspect, taking the blame for something they thought was their fault and then letting it fester till their insides rotted away.

Hearing the soft sob coming off of her again, her body visibly shaking from the cool early evening air now flowing into the can, Daryl felt his heart crack just a bit.

He adored this girl in his own 'Dixon' way. He knew, he'd probably never come around to admitting it out loud to himself or anyone, but he would internally agree that he did not like seeing her in tears. Not being able to hear her snarky comments or sass was something he did not enjoy. All he wanted was for her to smile at him, talk about his ass more, no matter how embarrassing it was and act like the tough bitch he knew her to be.

Knowing she hadn't noticed him just yet, he glanced around to make sure the coast was clear before carefully climbing up into the truck, silently pulling the door shut without latching it. He quietly leaned his crossbow against the wall, taking stock of her machete and gun that were laid out in front of her curled up form and softly sighed.

Yup. He definitely did not like this side of her.

"Daryl..." She whined again as his eyes shot down to her form, seemingly asleep from where he was standing as he pulled off the flannel around his waist, carefully draping it over her tiny form before stepping back. When she didn't wake and instead curled further into his shirt, unconsciously burying her face into the sleeve, it made his heartache.

He'd do anything to make sure she'd always be happy if it meant he never had to see her so vulnerable or broken again.

He didn't care that he was acting like a pussy, Merle's usual backtalk nowhere to be heard as he continued to stare at the girl that had effortlessly shimmied her way into his nonexistent heart.

He slowly sat just behind her, between her and the door, protecting her smaller frame from any intruders that may come through the night. He shut his eyes, resting his head back against the wall before his hand moved on its own to touch his lips.

Daryl's stomach fluttered, a welcoming warmth traveled through him as he replayed the moment she had suddenly pressed her soft lips to his. She had kissed him. He hadn't been expecting her to do something like that, even in the situation they had been in, he had expected her to scream at him more, lay it in deep on him. But, she had done the complete opposite. She had cried for him, begged him to hide with her, begged him not to leave her and then kissed him.

She had kissed him.

He knew he was done now. He had been fighting to ignore the interest he had in her from the moment he had found her alone. He fought to ignore the strange feelings brewing deep in his stomach every time she would turn and curse at him.

He was fuckin' screwed.

Ana's POV...

Slowly, the press of hard metal against my side began to drag me out of my anxiety induced slumber as my swollen eyes slowly peeled open to the pallet in front of me. I blinked a few times, my limbs feeling heavy as I moaned at the awkward and painful twitch in my neck. With my one good arm, I fought to push myself up into the sitting position before feeling something flutter and fall into my lap. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes before glancing down at the familiar flannel resting across my lap.

That was Daryl's flannel.

I knew I recognized it as a new round of tears began to fill my lids as I lifted the fabric to my nose, inhaling his warm scent.

How long had I been out?

Was he still out there?

Was he still alive?

I lost him, hadn't I?

I killed him.

He was dead because of me.

Fuck.

I shut my eyes again, tightly, a broken sob once again bubbling up my throat before I hung my head, holding his flannel closely to my chest, not acknowledging the light warm breeze at my back. But a moment later, another breeze blew in sending the back of my shirt fluttering as my head shot off out of the shirt before hearing the clear sound of a pair of feet scuffing behind me.

I froze in fear, my body not waiting for the green light as I grabbed my gun off the ground in front of me and spun with it up at the ready. With the amount of force I used to spin around in a split second, the gun went flying out of my hand in the next moment as a familiar face came into view. My pistol clattered loudly across the truck floor and out onto the road, landing right in front of Daryl.

Daryl.

Author's POV...

Tears filled her eyes, again as her heart pounded painfully in her chest.

If this was some sick joke her mind was playing on her, she had half a mind to swallow that pistol to put herself out of her misery. But when he bent over, picking her gun off the ground and laid it gently on the truck floor between the two, she let out a shaky breath as his eyes met hers with concern.

"Ya doin' alright?" He hesitated to ask, already seeing the tears balancing on the edge of her lids, just waiting for the right moment to spill over.

Ana opened her mouth to say something, though she was only able to produce a choked breath before she was crawling frantically across the truck floor, almost falling out had Daryl arms not shot out in time to catch her.

Daryl had been seconds from reeling into her for being so clumsy only for the words to die on his tongue as her hands were pressed to his cheeks, her beautiful tear filled eyes panning his face anxiously.

"You're-You're alright?" She sobbed out in disbelief as he slowly nodded, his hands still holding her waist where he had caught her.

Ana inspected his face for any signs of injury or distress before watching as he nodded, confirming her hopes that he had been real to begin with. Unable to do anything else than laugh through her tears, she threw herself at him, ignoring the pain in her arm as she gripped at his shirt desperately.

Daryl didn't know what to do as she was suddenly against him, holding him tightly to her as soft sobs echoed from his shoulder space where she was buried. Taking in a deep breath, her addicting scent engulfing him, he couldn't stop himself from naturally curling his arms around her, his body perfectly molding around her own.

"I thought I lost you..." Her muffled sobs broke through him as guilt instantly began to bury itself deep in his stomach. Biting down into his cheek to stop himself from saying something he may regret later, he let out a deep sigh and pulled her tighter against him, going as far as burying his face in her own neck.

"I'd never leave ya..."

Ana's POV...

I had never been so embarrassed and relieved in my life.

Just the sight of his scruffy face with the rising sun in the background was enough to light a fire under my ass. At the time, I had told myself, if it was some sick joke played on by my mind, I was going to flip shit. But now that I knew he was real, I realized I probably would have lost my mind completely had I lost him indefinitely. I hadn't known him personally for too long, but I felt like I've known him all my life and that was something I wasn't willing to lose, ever.

After our 'embarrassing' hug episode where I basically soaked through his vest with my tears and snot, he finally was able to pry me away from him, sitting me on the edge of the truck. The second I saw him step away from me, it's like my whole body froze up, my arm unconsciously shooting out, thinking he was leaving me once more.

I knew I was pale with worry as he turned to me, about to question me before his brows furrowed in concern. His hand turned in my grasp to hold my hand back before he stepped forward to stand between my spread legs.

"Look at me." He grumbled out, his free hand reaching out to grip my chin, making sure I was paying attention to what he had to say.

"I ain't goin' anywhere. Just gonna get ya a bottle of water, find some food in there for ya. Yer fine." He whispered as his thumb began to brush back and forth against my chin.

I swallowed heavily, my eyes naturally finding their perch on his lips as he spoke, a sudden memory of chapped and cracked lips pressed to my own seemed to shoot me back into my senses. My cheeks flared up as I opened my mouth to spat some snarky comment only for my words to be cut off as Daryl took the initiative this time, leaning forward to press a kiss to the corner of my mouth.

I didn't know what to say or do, I froze, not expecting him to actually return the gesture that I had been moments from regretting. I watched him pull away, a noticeable blush on his own cheeks matching mine before he flicked my nose, not giving me enough time to whack him before he was climbing into the truck and past me.

My lips flapped open and shut as I dug through my tangled mind for something to shoot in his direction only for my mind to register, once more, that the man had kissed me. On his own, for god sake. I tried to fight back the next round of blushing but I couldn't as I turned, my eyes immediately shooting down to his back side as he tore into the first pallet with purpose.

Fuckin' Christ. This man was going to kill me.

Author's POV...

It was awkwardly silent once Daryl was able to snatch up a pair of water bottles and some food as they sat side by side just on the step of the truck.

For once in Ana's life, she didn't know what to do or what to say to the man sitting beside her. She didn't know where they stood and honestly, right now, after her show of vulnerability, she didn't have the balls to bring it up to the man. If he was anything like her, she knew, he'd avoid the subject like the plague, no matter how much it hurt themselves.

"Ya okay now?" Daryl's voice scared her as she hadn't been expecting to hear it, at all, again. Her eyes snapped over to his with her water bottle still mid sip as it balanced on her lips.

"Got enough water in ya? Don't need ya dehydrated out 'ere." Daryl turned away, his soft voice not one she was used to as she continued to stare at his side profile.

"I'm good." She cleared her throat as she tore her eyes away from his to stare back at the graveyard of cars.

"Just makin' sure, yer cryin' a lot. Never seen a girl cry so much." Daryl had muttered the last part with the intention for her not to hear though she easily caught it. And just like that, it was like a switch was flipped as her eyes snapped over to him, her lips pulled tight as she gripped her half full water bottle and swung like her life depended on it.

She knew she wasn't going to hurt him but if she bruised his ego just a bit, she'd be okay.

The water bottle collided with the back of his head as he let out a yelp before turning to her in disbelief and anger.

"What the fuck is yer problem?!" He bellowed as he held his head, glaring at her as she threw her bottle this time, pleased when it made contact with his face, giving her enough time to slip from the truck and away from him.

"What an asshole..." She hissed, blinking back the hurt tears as she marched away from him, every intention on getting as much space between them as possible before she broke out crying like some elementary girl.

But could you blame her? It's not everyday she cried. Actually, she rarely did but when it came to the possibility of losing Daryl, she couldn't help it. That man's very existence was boiling deep in her heart and she couldn't help it. So with the prospect that she could have easily lost him yesterday, it was an obvious situation where she couldn't control her emotions. She didn't know what else to do but cry. Then to add salt to the wound as Daryl just did, almost mocking her for crying as much as she did when she had believed to have lost him, she just couldn't stand to sit there anymore.

She knew he didn't mean it but his words had still hurt.

Just as she got past the 2nd row of cars, a single tear dropped before her arm was caught in a vise grip that quickly forced her to stumble back into a pair of arms that tightened around her. She stood stalk still, glad that he couldn't see her face right now as tears began spilling one after another as his arms tightened around her waist.

"Stop fuckin' walkin' away from me." He hissed into her neck as she bit her lip to stop the pitiful sob from escaping before she began squirming, wanting to get out of his arms before it was too late.

"Stop fuckin' movin, I ain't lettin' go so fuckin' quit it." He barked as she seemed to sag in his arms, defeated.

"Let me go." She whispered, holding back a shiver as she felt his beard brush against her shoulder.

"Fuck no, yer just gonna walk off again. Ain't happenin'." He scoffed, tightening his arms around her before it grew silent between them once more.

He knew, as soon as those words had left his mouth, he had fucked up. Ana was a stubborn chick that usually didn't let anything bother her enough to throw a fit but with the night they had and knowing she had been guilt tripping herself through most of it, he knew those words might have sliced her a bit deeper than he had intended. And if it hadn't been obvious enough with the obvious glare he had felt baring into the side of his head, her basically whacking the shit out of him with a water bottle and marching off, nailed it.

He had fucked up.

"'m sorry, kay, so stop fuckin' squirmin'." Ana hadn't been expecting to hear him apologize or for the caveman of a human to even know what an apology was. So hearing those words coming from the man wrapped around her, was the surprise of the century.

"Don't be sittin' in that shit and thinkin' if anythin' happened it be yer fault. Fuck that. I did what I did because I wanted ta. To protect ya. That fuckin' sound alone would have brought more of those fuckin' bastards down on us till the piece of shit ran out of juice. Ain't yer fault."

At the Greene Farm...

Glenn had heard everything the Sheriff said. From Rick calling Shane out for sleeping with Lori to Shane realizing that Rick had something for Ana. That last bit alone had placed an uncomfortable rock in the bottom of Glenn's stomach as he stared in the direction Rick had disappeared with Hershel about half hour prior.

"You doin' okay little man?" A voice interrupted Glenn from his deep thoughts as he quickly blinked them away to turn to the man approaching him.

"Everything okay?" T-Dog immediately noticed the contemplating look crawling across the Asian's face and quickly took a seat beside him.

"Rick likes Ana." Glenn muttered as T-Dog's eyes widened, glancing around to see if anyone was within ear reach before turning back to his friend.

"So ya heard that?" T-Dog asked as Glenn scoffed and nodded.

"Not sure what it is, but it doesn't sit well with me for some reason." Glenn rubbed his forehead viciously, annoyed more at himself for feeling this way.

"Dude, it's okay. Like I told Dale, we don't have anything to worry about. Shorty's got Dixon wrapped around her finger." T-Dog playfully added as he patted the smaller man's back. Glenn listened to the man's words before sighing out in defeat, hanging his head as T-Dog gripped the back of his neck lightly.

"You worried about her?" T-Dog asked as Glenn laughed sarcastically before nodding, pushing his fingers through his hair frustrated.

"I'm not worried about Rick though, it's Lori and Shane I'm more worried about. They both already clearly don't like Ana." Glenn finally turned to T-Dog who couldn't help but nod in agreement, both men glancing back to see Shane having what looked to be a serious conversation with Lori near the shed.

"If Shane knows, think Lori does?" Glenn whispered this time, turning back to the fire in front of them.

"Well, whatever that asshole or Lori does, we have Shorty's back, right?" T-Dog slapped Glenn on the back with purpose this time as the man sat up straighter and nodded.

"We'll keep an extra eye on her when Daryl isn't around." Glenn pushed as T-Dog's eyes hardened before he nodded.

Author's POV...

"I thought he was dead." Shane's voice cut through Lori like a knife as she froze, shaking her head a second later before attempting to walk past him.

"Shane, I don't..." Lori whimpered as Shane caught her arm, stopping her from going any further.

"Then when he came back, right then, right there, you see I wished he was." Shane said in a low voice, knowing Rick was nowhere nearby.

"Not...not because you wouldn't be mine, but because I knew that sooner or later he would be dead." Shane finished as Lori's glassy eyes shot up to meet his.

"See Rick, he ain't built for this world, not for what it is now." Shane chuckled amused, shaking his head as he gripped her arm just a bit harder.

"You're wrong, you're wrong." Lori repeated in denial as Shane scoffed, grabbing her arm, taking a quick look around before pulling her towards him again.

"Lori, how many times has he saved your life, huh? How many?" Shane wanted to make a point and before he could, he wasn't letting this woman leave his side.

"I just...I want to know how many times. Because by my count, I've saved your life on four different occasions. And that's Carl's too. So I just want to ask you, how many times has Rick saved your life?" Shane was too far gone to realize the painful grip he had on Lori's arm or the way he was honking his own horn, his voice growing lower and lower as his face grew closer to her own.

"That night at the camp." Just like the CDC, Lori could feel herself beginning to tremble in fear of the man who she had once laid with.

"That night at the camp after the fish fry." Lori cleared her throat, repeating her answer as Shane let out a bark of laughter, shaking his head before letting go.

"No no no. See, no. That was me too. You see, Rick, he showed up late because he went on a suicide mission over nothing. Yeah, he joined in, but see, we wouldn't have been in that situation if he hadn't left because he felt that he needed to save a drug dealer. And so we lost Amy, we lost Jim." Shane rambled on, jabbing himself in his chest for measure as he began to pace back and forth in front of her.

"We lost..." Lori was on the edge of breaking down, Shane's words playing her the right way as she internally agreed with him.

"Rick told me." Shane cut her off as she sniffled, her eyes flashing up to him in hesitation and confusion.

"Told you what?" She chewed on her lip in hesitation, a part of her already knowing what it was about, though she didn't want to believe it.

"And I know the reason why you didn't is because you know it's mine." Shane took step after step, getting closer to her till he was an inch from her face, a pleased emotion emitting from him as he watched her eyes flash in horror.

"It's Rick's." She gasped out, shaking her head as she made to push him away from her only for the man to grab her wrists, pulling her even closer.

"You know, we carried on quite a bit before Rick got back, Lori. It's mine. You know it is." Shane spat into her face as she swallowed the bile slowly crawling up her throat, her eyes growing glassy at his words that she knew to be true. She wouldn't, she couldn't admit it. She refused to. Even as she shut her eyes and allowed his words to smother her, her heart twisted tightly in her chest.

"Why do you care if it's his, huh? You're a smart woman, you know he no longer cares about you the way he used to." Shane slowly began to smirk, ignoring the way he was playing low as the woman's sniffles halted before her now hard, glassy eyes lifted to meet his.

"What the hell are you talking about?" She muttered, knowing who he was talking about though it did nothing to put out the fire now burning in her chest.

Letting go of her arms, allowing her the space she needed now that he knew he had effectively reeled her in, he shoved his hands into his pockets and stood proudly.

"Rick, he basically threatened me earlier about Ana. Told me to keep the fuck away from her and leave her be. If that doesn't scream high school love story, I don't know what does." He shrugged amused by the various looks of anger, jealousy and rage flashing repeatedly across Lori's face before she viciously wiped at her cheeks

"You know, don't you?" Shane took a teasing step towards her, his brow slowly rising in amusement.

"I called him out on it earlier, I'm not blind, I saw the way he looked at her. He didn't deny it either." Lori's fear from earlier was quickly replaced with jealousy as Shane smirked proudly at the plan unfolding in front of him.

This was playing right into his hands.

Ana and Daryl had separated long enough to get their bearings back. Ana was sure that if she blushed once more, her face was going to explode. She had never blushed as much as she done in the past month, ever in her life. And after their little argument, after she had marched off like some hormonal teenager, she needed her space for a moment, even if just for a minute. Naturally, after Daryl had finally let go and she realized she needed time to collect herself before she embarrassed herself any further, the man was not willing to leave her on her own, at all.

She pressed to be left alone for 5 minutes, just a pair of cars away. She went as far as counting down to one minute where he continued to shake his head, set on his decision to not let her out of his sight. She groaned in frustration, unable to be mad at the man after the night the two of them had. If anything, he just made her more frustrated.

"I have to pee, can I pee on my own for two seconds?" She spun on her heels, coming up with a believable lie, her eyes furrowed in desperation for extra measure.

Seemed to have worked cause the man recoiled slightly, attempting to hide his embarrassment before he waved her off with a gruff you got 2 minutes.

Ana bolted the moment he gave her and took off a few cars away, squatting down behind the nearest car for emphasis. Daryl wouldn't think twice about seeing her squatting behind a car, not with the lie she had whipped up.

She sighed, allowing her ass to hit the hot pavement before she pulled her knees to her chest and buried her face there. What the hell had happened to her? She wasn't like this, far from it actually. She didn't let a man control her emotions, not since Colby. She groaned, frustrated and embarrassed that Daryl had seen a side of her that she was usually so good at hiding. Fuck. He must think she's such a pussy now. Damn it. Ana pulled her head back from her knees, lightly hitting the car with the back of her head, irritated with herself.

She didn't cry. She wasn't known to cry. Literally the last time she had cried out in the open was when her grandmother had passed. Well, to be fair, the woman was a second mother to her when her own was too busy to raise her.

Okay, she'll take back that bit about crying, she had cried at the CDC, with Rick.

Fuck. She was turning into a pussy. Through and through.

She had thought she had lost Daryl. She had thought that kiss she had sprung on him, was the last thing she'd ever do with the man, the last time she'd see him. It was like her hormones went into overdrive the second she saw him make the choice to go out and shut off that piece of shit. She had been seconds from jumping out of the truck and joining him, but that bastard, ever the noble, had to stop her and basically slam the door in her face.

If he hadn't locked the door, she knew, within seconds, she would have been out and after him, fuck the walkers.

Fuck.

She really did hate it when she got emotional. The last time she had cried her heart out at her grandmother's funeral, she remembered being emotionally drained for a week after because she just wasn't used to it. And that incident at the CDC, took her a while to get her ass back in gear. Just like now. She could already feel exhaustion creeping up on her as she squatted between a pair of cars that Daryl had moved the night before.

"Ya done?!" He called out suddenly as she flinched in surprise, her eyes snapping around, wondering if he had snuck up on her without her realizing it.

Sick bastard. What if she was really peeing?

"Hold yer fuckin' horses!" She snapped once she realized he hadn't made a move to approach her from the spot she had left him in. Sighing in relief, wiping her face to make sure that she didn't have any visible evidence of what she had actually been doing and stood. Going about the movements as if she was pulling up her pants and adjusting herself, she turned, looking over to see him glancing away from her, obviously, he had been watching her this entire time.

Smirking, when his eyes suddenly panned back to hers, she knew, this was only the beginning of what could either be a disaster or the best decision she's ever made.

Hope this will hold you off till sometime next week!

Until next time~